Resource-saving systems and methods

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for saving resources when outputting a media asset such as a video are provided. The media asset is split into a first portion with a first importance and a second portion with the second importance. The first portion is displayed with a first set of output parameters (e.g., resolution, bit rate, frame rate, display size) and the second portion is displayed with a second set of output parameters that correspond to a lower quality than the first set of output parameters (e.g., a lower resolution, a lower bit rate, a lower frame rate, a lower display size).

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to resource-saving systems and methods todisplay media content (video and/or audio) on an electronic user devicesuch as a smartphone, tablet, smart TV, laptop, computer, phablet,e-reader, etc.

Today a more and more common use of devices is to consume media assets,such as video content and/or audio content. That consumptionnecessitates different types of resources. For instance, to stream amedia asset (e.g., movie, TV show, series) from a remote server (e.g.,video-on-demand, pay-per-view, etc.), sufficient network bandwidth isrequired; or, when the user device is portable (e.g., smartphone,tablet, laptop, etc.), a battery with a sufficient capacity toaccommodate the user's uses, such as watching media assets on publictransportation, is required. However, media assets may be viewable witha high quality, which leads to transmission through the network, andhandling by the user device, of a lot of data which may saturate thebandwidth or drain the battery of the user device.

Solutions exist to optimize the battery while interacting with a device.For example, document US 2018/286355 discloses, in a mobile terminal, apower-saving mode which is initiated when the remaining battery power ofthe mobile terminal is below a threshold. The power-saving mode mayalter the resolution of an application executed by the mobile terminal.

It is against this background that embodiments of the present inventionhave arisen.

SUMMARY

There is a need for improved resource-saving modes, which may alleviatethe constraints that playing a media asset on a user device may exert onan network (e.g., network's bandwidth or capacity) or on a battery ofthe user device.

In some approaches described herein, a resource-saving system may beactivated to decrease consumption of resources, such as bandwidth andpower, related to a user device (e.g., a smartphone or a set-top box)that is playing a media asset (e.g., a video) by means of an outputdevice (e.g., a screen of a smartphone or a television connected to aset-top box). The resource-saving system may retrieve an inputindicating that a media asset is to be output or is being output by theuser device on the output device. The resource-saving system maydetermine that a portion of the media asset has a first attribute(referred to as the first portion), and that another portion of themedia asset has a second attribute (referred to as the second portion).Based on those portions, the resource-saving system may generate fordisplay, with a first set of output parameters, the first portion of themedia asset and may generate for display, with a second set of outputparameters, the second portion of the media asset. Each set of outputparameters may include a resolution, a bitrate, a frame rate, or adisplay size on the output device. The second set of output parametersis different from the first set of output parameters. In an embodiment,the second set of output parameters corresponds to a lower-qualityoutput than the first set of output parameters. For instance, at leastone of the values of the output parameters of the second set of outputparameters is lower than the value of the corresponding output parameterof the first set of output parameters. For instance, the firstresolution may be 1920×1080 and the second resolution may be 1280×720;the first frame rate may be 60 FPS (frames per second) and the secondframe rate may be 25 FPS; the first bitrate may be between 4500 and 6000kbps (kilobits per second) and the second bitrate may be between 2500and 4000 kbps; the first display size may be 16×9 cm or the seconddisplay size may be 8×4.5 cm. Thus, the amount of data the user devicemust process to play the second portion of the media asset is decreasedcompared to the amount of data for the first portion. The energy and/orbandwidth required by the user device and/or the output device todisplay the second portion is consequently decreased.

According to the present disclosure, the shift of quality is performedtaking into account the content of the media asset: the first portion(i.e., a portion with the first attribute) is played with the first setof output parameters and the second portion (i.e., a portion with thesecond attribute) is played with the second set of output parameters.Therefore, the optimization of the resources may not only consider alevel of battery or available bandwidth but also the content of themedia asset. Portions with the first attribute may relate to criticalmoments of the media asset (for the plot, for the emotions, etc.) forwhich a high quality of display is preferable, while portions with thesecond attribute may relate to less critical moments of the media asset(such as a romance scene, a transition scene, etc.) for which a lowerquality of display is acceptable. The attribute may therefore be a labelrepresenting an importance of the portion in the media asset (firstimportance for the first portion with the first attribute and secondimportance for the second portion with the second attribute). The firstportion and the second portion may each be scattered throughout themedia asset. The determination of the first portion and the secondportion may be based on metadata of the media asset (e.g., the mediaasset producer generates the metadata and incorporates them in the mediaasset, or the resource-saving system analyses, beforehand or on the fly,the content of the media asset to attribute metadata) and on a user'sprofile. For instance, a user's profile indicating that the user lovesaction movies and does not watch romance movies may lead theresource-saving system to mark a car chase as a first portion (that isto say a portion with the first attribute) and a romance scene as asecond portion (that is to say a portion with a second attribute). Thecar chase will be displayed with the first set of output parameters(i.e., a higher quality) and the romance scene with the second set ofoutput parameters (i.e., a lower quality).

In an approach, when the media asset is received from a remote mediaasset provider or from a storage of a user device, the resource-savingsystem may receive, for the first portion, a media stream with a firstquality, that permits the output device to display the first portionwith the first set of output parameters and may receive, for the secondportion, a media stream with the first quality as well. However, theresource-saving system may process the media stream with the firstquality to display the second portion with the second set of outputparameters. Indeed, to output a media asset, the user device usuallyneeds to decode (part of the codec process) the received media stream.Doing so consumes CPU or GPU resources. However, the consumption of theCPU or GPU depends on the quality of the final display. Therefore,processing the media stream with the first quality to play the mediaasset with a lower quality (i.e., the second set of output parameters)consumes less battery than processing the media stream with the firstquality to play the media asset with a higher quality (i.e., the firstset of output parameters). This is particularly advantageous when theuser device and/or the output device is powered by a battery. In thisapproach, the media asset may be provided by a remote media assetprovider (e.g., remote streaming services on a remote server device) ormay be already stored on a memory of the user device.

In an approach, when the media asset is received from a remote mediaasset provider, the second set of output parameters may permit adecrease in the amount of data going through a communication networkthat links the user device to the remote media asset provider. In thisregard, the generating for output, with the second set of outputparameters, the second portion of the media asset may comprisereceiving, from the remote media asset provider, a media stream with asecond quality, that contains enough data to play the media asset withthe second set of output parameters but not enough data to play themedia asset with the first set of output parameters. For instance, withsuch an approach, a family with a plurality of user devices may moreeasily and more fairly share the bandwidth of their internet connection.This approach also permits reduction of the CPU or GPU consumption ofthe user device, as the media stream with the second quality is lessdemanding to process than the media stream with the first quality and isadvantageous for battery-powered user devices.

In an approach, the set of output parameters includes a display size(e.g., a display area, for instance indicated by values for the lengthand the width of the display size, or a single dimension such as thediagonal) and the display size of the second set of output parameters issmaller than the display size of the first set of output parameters.This means that the display size on the screen of the second portion ofthe media asset is smaller than a display size on the screen of thefirst portion. For instance, on a user device with a screen of 10×5 cmthe first portion of the media asset may be displayed using the 10×5 cm(therefore the whole screen) and the second portion of the media assetmay be displayed using 5×2.5 cm (therefore one quarter of the screen).This approach can conveniently be combined with a set of outputparameters including the resolution as well, where the resolution of thesecond set of output parameters is inferior to the resolution of thefirst set of output parameters, as a lower resolution may be used for asmaller display size without significantly compromising on the qualityof the image. For instance, on a user device with a output device (e.g.,a screen) with a resolution of 1920×1080, the first portion of the mediaasset may be displayed in 1920×1080 (therefore every pixel of the screenis used), and the second portion of the media asset may be displayed in1280×720, using only 1280×720 pixels of the output device. Therefore,there will be a fraction of the pixels of the output device that are notused to display the second portion. With some technologies (e.g.,Amoled®), those unused pixels may be shut off, thereby saving power.

Depending on the approaches, the resource-saving system may be part ofthe user device or the remote server device of the media asset provider,or both.

Resource-saving mechanisms, techniques and systems are presentlyintroduced to decrease the amount of data transferred over a network orto decrease the power consumption of a user device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative representation of an output device thatdisplays a first portion of the media asset, with a first set of outputparameters (higher resolution), in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative representation of an output device whichdisplay a second portion of the media asset, with a second set of outputparameters (lower resolution), in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative topology of equipment (or computingconfiguration) programmed and configured for saving resources, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative flowchart of a process for saving resources,in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative diagram of the first and second portion of amedia asset, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative representation of an output device thatdisplays a first portion of the media asset with a first set ofparameter (greater display size), in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative representation of an output device thatdisplays a second portion of the media asset with a second set of outputparameters (smaller display size), in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is an illustrative flowchart of a process for determining thefirst and second portion of the media asset, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative diagram of a process for delivering the firstportion and the second portion with a media stream of a first quality,in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative diagram of a process for the user devicereceiving the first portion and the second portion respectively with amedia stream of a first quality and a media stream of a second quality,in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is an illustrative diagram of a process for the remote serverdevice delivering the first portion and the second portion respectivelywith a media stream of a first quality and a media stream of a secondquality, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a more specific view of the illustrative topology ofequipment (or computing configuration) programmed and configured forsaving resources, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 13 is an illustrative representation of a process to saveresources, at one stage of the process, in accordance with some otherembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 14 is an illustrative representation of a process to saveresources, at another stage of the process, in accordance with someother embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 15 is an illustrative flowchart of another process for savingresources, in accordance with some other embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 16 is an illustrative flowchart of a process for managing the userdevices and the shared screen, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems are disclosed herein to decrease consumption ofresources related to a user device that outputs a media asset on anoutput device. Consumption of resources may relate to the amount of datareceived by the user device (therefore impacting the bandwidth of thenetwork) and/or the amount of energy consumed by the user device tooutput the media asset so that a user can view and/or listen to it. Thatamount of energy may be consumed by the reception of data, the treatmentof data and/or activation of pixels of a screen. A media asset may be avideo asset (with or without sound), an audio asset or any type ofcontent that a user can watch or with which a user can interact. Theuser device may be a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, a phablet, acomputer with a display, a television, a Smart TV, a set-top box, avideo game console, etc.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two representations of a media asset 100 that isbeing output on an output device 102 connected to a user device (notrepresented in FIGS. 1 and 2), in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure. A resource-saving system may be used to operatea resource-saving mode during which the consumption of resources isdecreased in comparison with operating in a regular mode (e.g., when theresource-saving mode is deactivated). The resource-saving system may bepart of the user device that generates for output the media asset, aremote server device that sends the media asset, or spread across both.

The resource-saving system may receive an input indicating that a mediaasset 100 is being output by the output device 102 of the user device oris to be output by the output device 102 of the user device. The inputmay include a selection of a media asset 100, performed by means of auser interface of the user device. The resource-saving system maydetermine that a first portion 104 of the media asset has a firstattribute and that a second portion 106 of the media asset has a secondattribute (for the rest of the description, a first portion is a portionof the media asset that has the first attribute and a second portion isa portion of the media asset that has the second attribute). In FIGS. 1and 2, the first and second portions 104, 106 are shown as intervals onthe media asset 100, which is itself represented by a seekbar 108comprising a play position 110. The resource-saving system generates foroutput with a first set of output parameters, on the output device, thefirst portion 104 of the media asset 100 and it generates for outputwith a second set of output parameters, on the output device, the secondportion 106 of the media asset 100. The set of output parameters relatesto at least one parameter that affects the quality of the output of themedia asset, as perceived by the user and objectively quantifiable. Forinstance, the set of output parameters may include a resolution of themedia asset, a bit rate of the media asset, a frame rate of the mediaasset or a display size of the media asset on the user device. “First”parameter or “second” parameter will refer to a parameter of,respectively, the first set or the second set, for the rest of thedescription. The person skilled in the art may appreciate that otheroutput parameters may be used.

The second set of output parameters is different from the first set ofoutput parameters, i.e., at least one output parameter has a value thatis different in the two sets of output parameters. In particular, atleast one of the output parameters of the second set of outputparameters has a value that is lower than that of a corresponding outputparameter of the first set of output parameters, which means that thequality of the second set of output parameters is lower than that of thefirst set of output parameters. This ensures that less data needs to betransferred to and/or processed by the user device, and therefore savesresources. For instance, the second resolution may be lower than theresolution of the first set, the second bitrate may be lower than thefirst bitrate, the second frame rate may be lower than the first framerate, and/or the second display size on the output device may be smallerthan the first display size. On the illustrations of FIGS. 1 and 2, thesecond resolution is lower than the first resolution so that the outputof the second portion 106 is more pixelized than the output of the firstportion 104. This can be achieved in different ways that will bediscussed below. For example, the user device may receive from a remoteserver a media stream with a first quality that enables the user deviceto output the media asset with the first set of output parameters, andthe user device may receive from the remote server a media stream with asecond quality that enables the user device to output the media assetwith the second set of output parameters (and not with the first set ofoutput parameters). The media stream with the second quality may be lessresource-consuming, as it needs to convey less data (and thus uses lessbandwidth). In another example, the media asset is stored at the userdevice and processing the media asset for output is performeddifferently for the first portion and the second portion so that lessenergy is needed to output the second portion (and thus uses lessbattery).

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative block diagram of a computing configuration300 that may include the resource-saving system presently described.Computing configuration 300 includes a user device 302. In someembodiments, the user device 302 may include control circuitry 304 andan input/output (I/O) path 306. Control circuitry 304 may includeprocessing circuitry 308, and storage 310 (e.g., RAM, ROM, hard disk,removable disk, etc.). I/O path 306 may provide device information, orother data, over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content and data to control circuitry 304. Controlcircuitry 304 may be used to send and receive commands, requests,signals (digital and analog), and other suitable data using I/O path306. I/O path 306 may connect control circuitry 304 (and specificallyprocessing circuitry 308) to one or more communication paths.

User device 302 may include at least one output device, such as adisplay 312 (e.g., a screen) and/or a speaker 314, to output contentvisually and audibly. In addition, to interact with a user, user device302 may include a user interface 316. The user interface 316 mayinclude, for example, a touchscreen, mouse and/or keyboard. The userinterface 316 is connected to the I/O path 306 and the control circuitry304. In an embodiment, the user interface 316 may be a touchscreenenabling the user to provide input(s) to the user device. The display312 may be a screen (such as a monitor or a TV). The user device 302 maybe a smartphone, a tablet, an e-reader, a laptop, a smart TV, a phablet,etc. Alternatively, the output device and the user interface may beconnected to the user device. In this case, the user device may be aset-top box, a computer tower, etc.

In an embodiment, the user device 302 comprises a battery 318, which isconfigured to provide energy (or power) to all the components of theuser device 302 that require energy, such as the control circuitry 304and the output device 312, 314.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 308. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 310,which is part of control circuitry 304. Storage 310 may storeinstructions that, when executed by processing circuitry 308, performthe processes described herein. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,solid state devices, quantum storage devices, or any other suitablefixed or removable storage devices, and/or any combination of the same.Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch a boot-up routineand other instructions). Storage 310 may be configured to store themedia asset or at least to act as a buffer when the media asset is beingstreamed.

Computing configuration 300 may also include a communication network 320and a server device 322. The user device 302 may be coupled to thecommunication network 320 to communicate with the server device 322. Thecommunication network 320 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a5G, 4G or LTE network), mesh network, peer-to-peer network, cablenetwork, or other types of communication network or combinations ofcommunication networks.

In some embodiments, server device 322 may include control circuitry 324and an input/output (I/O) path 326. Control circuitry 324 may includeprocessing circuitry 328, and storage 330, which may similar to thosealready discussed in relation to the user device 302. Server device 322may be a media asset provider for the user device 302, such as astreaming, VOD, or replay platform, etc.

The resource-saving system may comprise the user device 302 or theserver device 322, in a client/server approach, depending on whether themedia asset is being streamed from the server device 322 or beingretrieved from the storage 310. Alternatively, the resource-savingsystem may be distributed over the user device 302 and the server device322.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative flowchart of a process 400 for saving ordecreasing resources related to the consumption of a media asset, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Unless specifiedotherwise, process 400, and any of the following processes, may beexecuted by any of control circuitry 304 or 322 or any combinationthereof, using the communication network 318.

Process 400 relates to a resource-saving mode that can be executed incertain situations. That will be discussed below. At step 402, controlcircuitry retrieves an input that a media asset is being or to be outputby the user device 302 on an output device 312. As discussed above, theoutput device 312 may be part of the user device 302 (e.g., a screen ofa smartphone) or separated therefrom (e.g., a television and a set topbox). The input may come from the user device 302 itself, for instancefrom a media player or from an instruction to play a media asset (e.g.,selecting a media asset by means of the user interface 316). At step404, control circuitry determines that a portion of the media asset hasa first attribute (referred to herein as “first portion”) and, at step406, control circuitry determines that another portion of the mediaasset has a second attribute (referred to herein as “second portion”).The first and second portions, as being determined for the media asset,are mutually exclusive. However, different divisions of the media assetare possible. Preferably, the whole media asset is split into a firstportion and a second portion. The first portion and the second portiondo not need to be continuous but may include a plurality of separatedsegments. For instance, the media asset may be split as a segment of thesecond portion from 00:00:00 (h:min:s) to 00:05:00 (e.g., theintroduction of the media asset); then a segment of the first portionfrom 00:05:01 to 00:12:25 (e.g., a car chase in the media asset); thenanother segment of the second portion from 00:12:26 to 00:24:36 (e.g., aromance in the story); then another segment of the first portion from00:24:36 to 00:24:59 (e.g., a naked scene in the romance), etc. In oneembodiment, there are at least three alternations of segments during themedia asset (a segment of one attribute, then a segment of the otherattribute, then a segment of the former attribute). The number ofalternations may be up to several dozen. FIG. 5 illustrates a mediaasset 500 by means of a seek bar 502 and a play position 504: the mediaasset 500 is split into a first portion 506 with several segments 506 a,506 b, 506 c and a second portion 508 with several segments 508 a, 508b, 508 c, 508 d. For instance, segment 508 a may be the introduction ofthe media asset and segment 508 d may be the credits at the end of themedia asset.

Control circuitry may determine the first portion and the second portionof the media asset using a user's profile and/or metadata of the mediaasset. The portions may be pre-determined, before step 402, and theinformation is stored, for example on the storage 310 of the user device302 or storage 330 of server device 322. Alternatively, the portions maybe determined on the fly. Further details will be discussed below.

At step 408, control circuitry generates for output with a first set ofoutput parameters, on the output device, the first portion of the mediaasset. This means that when the play position of the media asset is inthe first portion, then the media asset is output with the first set ofoutput parameters, as shown in FIG. 1. At step 410, control circuitrygenerates for output with a second set of output parameters, on theoutput device, the second portion of the media asset. This means thatwhen the play position of the media asset is in the second portion, thenthe media asset is output with the second set of output parameters, asshown in FIG. 2.

The set of output parameters includes a resolution, a bitrate, a framerate and a display size on the output device. For the first set ofoutput parameters, a first resolution, a first bitrate, a first framerate and a first display size are defined, and, for the second set ofoutput parameters, a second resolution, a second bitrate, a second framerate and a second display size are defined. In order to save resources,the second set of output parameters is different from the first set ofoutput parameters. By different, it is understood that at least a valueof one parameter of the second set of output parameters is differentfrom a value of the same parameter in the first set of outputparameters. In particular, the second set of output parameters isassociated with an output of a lesser quality compared to the first setof output parameters. This means that at least one of the secondresolution, second bitrate, second frame rate, and second display sizehas a lower value than the respective first resolution, first bitrate,first frame rate, and first display size. Any of the output parametersof the set of output parameters may be lower independently from theothers, even though a lower resolution and/or a lower frame rate willalso have an impact on the bitrate.

In an embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second resolutionis lower than the first resolution. It is also noted here that thesecond display size is equal to the first display size. The image thusappears as pixelized in FIG. 2. In one approach, the second resolutionis less than 60% of the number of pixels of the first resolution (i.e.,ratio of second resolution/first resolution≤60%). For instance thedifference between a resolution of 240p (426×240) and 360p (640×360) is44.4%, between 360p and 480p (854×480) is 56.2%, between 480p is 720p(1280×720) is 44.4%, between 720p and 1080p (1920×1080) is 44.4%,between 1080p and 1440p (2560×1440) is 56.3% and between 1440p and 2160p(3840×2160) is 44%.

In an embodiment, the second bitrate is lower than the first bitrate. Inone approach, the second bitrate is less than 75% of the first bitrate(e.g., 3000 kbps and 4500 kbps or 4500 kbps and 6000 kbps). One way tolower the bitrate without lowering the other parameters of the set ofoutput parameters is to alter the colors of the media asset or to have abetter encoding algorithm.

In an embodiment, the second frame rate is lower than the first framerate. In one approach, the second frame rate is less than 50% of thefirst frame rate (e.g., 24 images per second and 50 images per second).Common frame rates include 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 48, 50 and 60 images persecond. Therefore, the first frame rate may be any of 25, 29.97, 30, 48,50, 60 and the second frame rate may be any of 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 48, 50that is lower than the first frame rate.

In an embodiment, the second display size on the output device is lowerthan the first display size on the (same) output device, as illustratedin FIGS. 6 and 7, which show two representations of a media asset 600being output on output device 102 connected to a user device (notrepresented in FIGS. 6 and 7). The first and second portions 604, 606are shown as intervals of the media asset 600, which is itselfrepresented by a seekbar 608 comprising a play position 610. In thisembodiment, the actual size of the media asset 600 as it is beingdisplayed on the output device 102 during a second portion 606 issmaller (in area) than the actual size of the media asset 600 as it isbeing displayed on the output device 102 for a first portion 604. In oneapproach, the second display size is less than 50% (in area) of thefirst display size. This enables the output device to generate a signalfor fewer pixels and therefore to save some computing resource, and,thereby, some battery power. In addition, when the output device 102allows a pixel-by-pixel control, unused pixels 612 of the output device102 (which are hereby defined as pixels contributing to outputting thefirst portion 604 but not contributing to outputting of the secondportion 606) may be shut off, thereby decreasing the consumption ofpower. Control circuitry generating for output the second portion 606therefore includes turning off the unused pixels of the output device.Examples of such an output device include an OLED display device (e.g.,Amoled®). This can for instance be performed in different situations:when the first portion 604 is being upscaled (i.e., the number of pixelsis artificially increased); when the second portion 606 is beingdownscaled (i.e., the number of pixel is artificially decreased); and/orwhen the resolution is changed between the first set of outputparameters and the second set of output parameters. These examples aredescribed further below.

Still in relation to the embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7, the second set ofoutput parameters may in addition include a lower resolution than thatof the first set of output parameters. As the second display size isreduced, there may be no need for the resource-saving system to maintainthe same resolution, as the user might not be able to tell thedifference. In practice, this is likely to happen, as reducing a displaysize is often accompanied with a reduced resolution.

For instance, when a first portion at a resolution of 1260p is beingoutput on the full extent of a 1260p-ready output device (no upscale andno downscale), the display size of the second portion may be chosen inaccordance with the second resolution: if the second resolution drops to720p, then the 1260p-ready output device will output the second portionat 720p with no upscaling (i.e., one pixel of the output devicecorresponds to one pixel of the media asset) and therefore will displaya smaller image, as shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, in one implementation,control circuitry may choose the second display size as a function ofthe second resolution.

When a first resolution is 1260p on a 1260p-ready output device (thefirst display size being the full extent of the output device andtherefore no upscale and no downscale) and the second resolution is1080p on the same output device, then the second display size maycorrespond to the number of pixels required to display a resolution of1260p, hereby displaying a smaller image, as described in the previousparagraph. However, in some cases, the first portion may not be outputat a display size that is adapted to the resolution of the output deviceand the first portion is upscaled to fit the resolution of the outputdevice. For instance, when a first portion at a resolution of 720p isbeing output on the full extent of a 1260p-ready output device, thefirst portion may appear as pixelized, as several pixels of the1260p-ready output device will be outputting the same pixels of a frame(e.g., an image) of the first portion (which is at a resolution 720p).In this case, a second display size may correspond to the resolution ofthe media asset and therefore to the actual number of pixels needed todisplay the second portion (no upscaling). Therefore, for a sameresolution of the media asset between the first set of output parametersand the second set of output parameters, the display size may be changedbetween the first and the second portions.

As discussed previously, the first and second portions (with theirrespective first and second attributes) of the media asset determine theset of output parameters used. This means that the quality of the outputis based on a selection of the portions of the media asset (that is tosay which part of the media asset has the first attribute and which parthas the second attribute).

In an embodiment, the first and second portions of the media asset aredetermined using a user's profile. The user's profile may containpreferences and/or a viewing history of the user. In another embodiment,the first and second portions of the media asset are determined based onmetadata. In one implementation, the server device 322 (e.g., the mediaasset provider) may provide a media asset containing metadata forsegments of the media asset (e.g., each scene of the media asset or atleast some scenes). The metadata may be provided (e.g., added,incorporated) by a media asset generator (producer, movie studio, etc.)or by the server device 322 analyzing the media asset. In animplementation, the attribution of metadata is based on the length of ascene, the length of shots in the content, the presence of dialogue, thepresence of a soundtrack, identification of a category of a scene(action, romance, dialogue, etc.), etc. This attribution may beperformed on the fly, that is to say while the media asset is beingoutput, or pre-performed, as described previously. A defaultattribution, in case no metadata can be specifically attributed to ascene, may be to define the scene as first portion or second portion.

The metadata of the media asset may be cross-referenced with the user'sprofile to determine which attribute is to be given for the segment, sothat the segment is part of the first or second portion. For example, auser profile indicating a preference for action movies will lead toaction scenes of a media asset being determined to be part of the firstportion. Conversely, a user profile indicating no appeal for romancemovies will lead to romance scenes of a media asset being part of thesecond portion.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart 800 illustrating how to determine the first andsecond portions of a media asset. At step 802, control circuitrygenerates metadata for the media asset, in particular for some scenes orsequences of the media asset (or all of them). Step 802 of generatingmetadata may be broken down as step 804 of splitting the media assetinto segments and step 806 of attributing for each segment at least onemetadata (e.g., action, love, car chase, dialogue, landscape, bright,gloomy, etc.). The metadata are those described above. At step 808,control circuitry stores the metadata with the media asset. These steps802, 804, 806, 808 can be performed by the control circuitry 324 of theserver device 322 or the control circuitry 304 of the user device 302.Those steps can advantageously be performed in advance, before receivingan input that a media asset is to be output. At step 810, controlcircuitry retrieves stored metadata of the media asset. At step 812,which may be carried out in parallel to steps 802 to 810, controlcircuitry retrieves the user's profile. The user's profile may be storedin storage 330 of the server device 322 or in storage 310 of the userdevice 302. At step 814, using the retrieved metadata and the user'sprofile, control circuitry combines for each segment of the media assetthe attributed metadata and information from the user's profile to labeleach segment with a first attribute or a second attribute. The segmentswill form the segments described in relation to FIG. 5. At step 816, thefirst portion of the media asset, with the first attribute, and thesecond portion of the media asset, with the second attribute aregenerated, typically by concatenating the labelled segments of the mediaasset. Finally, at step 818, the generation of the first and secondportions is stored, so that control circuitry may readily access themduring playback, for instance for the steps 408, 410 of generating foroutput of FIG. 4. Typically, the generation of the first and secondportions consists of an array comprising time intervals (the segments)associated with the label first attribute or second attribute.Similarly, steps 814 to 816 may be performed by the control circuitry324 of the server device 322 or the control circuitry 304 of the userdevice 302. Steps 814 to 816 may be performed in response to retrievingan input that a media asset is to be output or is being output. Inparticular, in one implementation, steps 802-810 may be performed by theserver device 322 while steps 812-816 may be performed by the userdevice 302. In another implementation, steps 802 to 816 are allperformed by the server device 322. Determining that a first portion ofthe media asset has a first attribute and determining that a secondportion of the media asset has a second attribute may therefore includeretrieving the stored generation. Alternatively, if the generation isperformed on the fly, then determining that a first portion of the mediaasset has a first attribute and determining that a second portion of themedia asset has a second attribute may include the whole of process 800.

In one embodiment, generating for output the first portion comprisesreceiving, by control circuitry 304 of the user device 302, a mediastream with a first quality. A media stream with a first quality enablesthe user device to output on the output device the first portion of themedia asset with the first set of output parameters. In other words,that media stream contains enough data for the first portion to bedisplayed with the first set of output parameters. Generating for outputthe second portion comprises receiving, by control circuitry 304 of theuser device 302, a media stream with the first quality as well but alsoincludes processing the media stream with the first quality to generatefor output the second portion with the second set of output parameters.In other words, switching from the first set of output parameters to thesecond set of output parameters is performed at the output stage (or thegeneration for output stage) and not at the media asset stage or theserver device stage. For instance, in one implementation, the mediastream is retrieved from the storage 310 of the user device 302 with amedia stream of the first quality, and the set of output parameters isentirely determined by a media player of the user device. The mediaasset is typically stored with that first quality.

In another implementation, illustrated by a flowchart of a process 900in FIG. 9, the media stream is received by the user device 302 from theserver device 322 via the communication network 320. At step 902, userdevice 302 receives an input requesting that a media asset be output onan output device to which the user device is connected. At step 904, theuser device 302 sends a request to the server device 322 to stream themedia asset. At step 906, the user device 302 receives a media streamwith a first quality, along with the generated portions (see FIG. 8). InFIG. 9 it is assumed that the first portion and the second portion areentirely generated by the server device 322 and that, therefore,determining that a first portion has a first attribute and determiningthat a second portion has a second attribute comprises receiving by theuser device 302 the relevant information from the server user device 322(i.e., the generation stored at step 818). The media stream correspondsto transmitted data to output the media asset. At step 908, using theinformation about the portions, user device 302 may determine that theupcoming content is part of the first portion of the media asset, withthe first attribute. At step 910, using the media stream received at906, user device 302 generates for output the first portion of the mediaasset with the first set of output parameters. At step 912, user device302 may determine, based on the information received with the mediastream that is received continuously since step 906, that the upcomingcontent is part of the second portion of the media asset, with thesecond attribute, and, at step 914, keeps on receiving the media streamwith the first quality. At step 916, user device 302 processes the mediastream to generate for output the second portion with the second set ofoutput parameters. In this embodiment, the media stream sent by theserver device 322 and received by the user device 302 is of the firstquality irrespective of whether the media stream relates to the firstportion or the second portion. In an embodiment, user device 302 maygenerate for output parts of the media asset with the first set ofoutput parameters (at step 910) or the second set of output parameters(at step 916) based on instructions of the server device 322. Forinstance, the instructions may be included in the information about thefirst and the second portions.

In another embodiment, in which the media asset is streamed between theserver device 322 and the user device 302, a media stream with the firstquality may be used for the first portion and a media stream with asecond quality may be used for the second portion. The media stream withthe first quality, as indicated above, enables the user device togenerate for output the first portion of the media asset with the firstset of output parameters. The media stream with the second quality,however, enables the user device to generate for output the secondportion of the media asset with the second set of output parameters andnot with the first set of output parameters. The media stream with thesecond quality contains, therefore, less data than the media stream withthe first quality. FIG. 10 illustrates an implementation by the userdevice 302, while FIG. 11 illustrates an implementation by the serverdevice 322.

As illustrated by a flowchart of a process 1000 in FIG. 10, at step1002, user device 302 receives an input requesting that a media asset beoutput on an output device to which the user device is connected. Atstep 1004, the user device 302 sends a request to the server device tostream the media asset. At step 1006, the user device 302 receives amedia stream with a first quality along with information about theportions. This media stream corresponds to the first portion. In FIG. 10it is assumed that the first portion and the second portion are entirelydetermined by the server device 322 and that, therefore, determiningthat a first portion has a first attribute and determining that a secondportion has a second attribute comprises receiving by the user device302 the relevant information from the server device 322 (i.e., thegeneration stored at step 818). The media stream corresponds totransmitted data to output the media asset. At step 1008, using themedia stream with the first quality received at 1006, user device 302generates for output the first portion of the media asset with the firstset of output parameters. It is noted that the user device implicitlydetermines the first portion with the first attribute by receiving amedia stream with the first quality. At step 1010, the user devicereceives a media stream with the second quality. This media streamcorresponds to the second portion. At step 1012, using the media streamwith the second quality received at 1010, user device 302 generates foroutput the second portion of the media asset with the second set ofoutput parameters. It is noted that the user device implicitlydetermines the second portion with the second attribute by receiving amedia stream with the first quality.

As illustrated by a flowchart of a process 1100 in FIG. 11, at step1102, server device 322 receives an input indicating that a media assetis to be output on an output device to which the user device isconnected, which is, for instance, a request from the user device 302.At step 1104, the server device 332 determines that a first portion ofthe media asset has a first attribute. In FIG. 11, it is assumed thatthe first portion and the second portion are entirely determined by theserver device 322 and therefore determining can be performed byretrieving the generation of the first and second portions (i.e., thegeneration stored at step 818). At step 1106, the server device 322generates for output parts of the media asset with a first set of outputparameters by sending the first portion as a media stream with the firstquality. The recipient is the user device 302. At step 1108, the serverdevice 332 determines that a second portion of the media asset has asecond attribute. Again, this can be performed by retrieving thegeneration of the first and second portions (i.e., the generation storedat step 818). At step 1110, the server device 322 generates for outputparts of the media asset with a first set of output parameters bysending the second portion as a media stream with the second quality.The recipient is the user device 302. This embodiment enables thereduction of the energy consumption of the user device 302, as the mediastream with the second quality is easier to process, and reduction ofthe bandwidth used on the communication network 320, as the media streamwith the second quality is lighter. This will be explained below in moredetail.

The method of FIGS. 4, 9, 10, 11 may be performed when a resource-savingmode is activated. When the resource-saving mode is not activated, thenthe output of the media asset is carried out normally. When theresource-saving mode is activated, then the output of the media asset iscarried out in accordance with any of the disclosures herein.

In an embodiment, the resource to save is an energy level, andparticularly a battery level (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop runningon battery and not being plugged in to an electrical network). In animplementation, switching from an inactivated resource-saving mode to anactivated resource-saving mode may be performed upon reception of aninput by a user. For instance, the user may decide that he or she doesnot want consuming the media asset to impact the battery too much (e.g.,when spending a day without a charger). In another implementation, thatswitching is performed in response to the reception of battery levelinformation. For instance, the resource-saving system may obtain abattery level information about a level of battery of the user deviceand may operate the resource-saving mode in response to obtaining thatbattery level information. In one approach concerning the battery levelinformation, the resource-saving system may determine that the currentbattery level information is below a threshold battery level (forinstance 20%). In another approach of the battery level information, theresource-saving system may determine that the predicted battery levelwill go below a threshold battery level during output of the media assetor upon completion of the media asset. For instance, the threshold maybe 1% of battery remaining at the end of the media asset, or 10%, or20%. As indicated above, in response to that determination, theresource-saving system activates the resource-saving mode. The predictedbattery level approach enables the resource-saving system to ensure thatthe battery level of the user device will be sufficient to output theentirety of the media asset. For example, in a situation where the mediaasset contains a lot of data (either a long media asset, a highresolution, a high bitrate, a high frame rate, a maximum display size,etc.,) and the user device has a limited battery capacity, theresource-saving mode may be activated from the beginning of the mediaasset or when the battery level is still close to 100%.

In an embodiment, the resource to save is bandwidth. This implementationbecomes relevant in the embodiments where the media asset is receivedfrom a remote server. In an implementation, switching from aninactivated resource-saving mode to an activated resource-saving modemay be performed upon reception of an input by a user. For instance, theuser may decide that he or she does not want consuming the media assetto impact the bandwidth too much (e.g., when sharing the internetconnection at home with the whole family). In another implementation,that switch is performed in response to the reception of bandwidthcapacity information. For instance, the resource-saving system mayobtain bandwidth capacity information about a capacity of the bandwidthto forward a certain amount of data and may, in response, operate theresource-saving mode. In one approach concerning the capacity of thebandwidth, the resource-saving system may determine that the currentbandwidth capacity information is below a threshold bandwidth capacity(for instance 5 kbits/s). FIG. 12 represents a topology 1200 comprisingthe user device 302 and the server device 322 connected via thecommunication network 320. Topology 1200 comprises, to connect the userdevice 302 to the server device 322, a user connection point 1202(connected to the user device 302), an internet-provider network 1204(connected to the user connection point 1202) and a server connectionpoint 1206 (connected to the internet-provider network 1204 and theserver device 322). The bandwidth capacity may be that of the userconnection point 1202 (e.g., LAN, WLAN, such as the local Wi-Ficonnection), that of the internet-provider network 1204 (e.g., WAN, suchas the town connection), or that of the media asset provider connectionpoint 1206 (e.g., LAN such as the local network that connects the serverdevice to the WAN 1204).

In an embodiment, the media asset is split into more than two portions(e.g., three or four portions) and to each portion is associated a setof output parameters that are different from one another. In a similarmanner, more than one threshold may be defined for the battery levelinformation and/or the bandwidth level information. For instance, a“light” resource-saving mode may be activated when a first threshold isreached. In the light resource-saving mode, a first and a second set ofoutput parameters may be used. A “heavy” resource-saving mode may beactivated when a second threshold is reached. In the heavyresource-saving mode, a first, a second and a third set of outputparameters may be used, or only the second and third set of outputparameters may be used.

The present disclosure also relates to methods and systems fordecreasing consumption related to a user device outputting a media asseton an output device, using a screen shared with other users.

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrates a topology 1300, represented in a livingroom of a household, comprising a first user device 1302 (e.g., asmartphone or tablet) that is battery-powered and a shared screen 1304(e.g., a television screen or computer screen) connected together via acommunication network device 1306 (e.g., a WLAN router). The sharedscreen 1304 may be plugged into an electric network. The architecture1300 may also comprise a second user device 1308, connected to thecommunication network device 1306 as well. FIG. 15 is an illustrativeflowchart of a process 1500 for saving resources of a first user device,in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. At step 1502, aresource-saving system may detect that a first application 1310 is beingdisplayed on the screen of the first user device 1302 (the arrowsgenerally indicate what is being displayed on the devices). At step1504, the resource-saving system may detect that a second application1312 is being displayed on the shared screen 1304. The first and secondapplications 1310, 1312 may include any type of multimedia content thatthe user may view or with which the user may interact, such as a mediaasset (e.g., a series or a movies, pictures, a website or a smartphoneapplication, etc.) or a messaging service (e.g., SMS, message over IP,etc.). The shared screen 1304 is a device that is usually shared betweenseveral users, such as a television or a tablet. In the presentdisclosure, “shared” means that the screen can be readily accessible bya first user (for instance a user using the first user device andconsuming the first application) and a second user (for instance a userusing the shared screen and consuming the second application). At step1506, the resource-saving system may determine that the first userdevice 1302 in the vicinity of the shared screen 1304. For instance, theresource-saving system may retrieve a localization signal of the firstuser device 1302 and localization signal of the shared screen 1304,compute a distance and compare it to a threshold (the vicinity beingdefined as the distance being lower than the threshold). For instance,the resource-saving system may detect that both the first user device1302 and the shared screen 1304 are connected to the communicationnetwork device 1306, which is typically a device of a local area network(LAN), such as a WLAN router, as mentioned above. At step 1508, theresource-saving system may receive battery level information of thefirst user device 1302. At step 1510, in response to determining thatthe battery level of the first user device is below a threshold, theresource-saving system generates for display the first application 1310on the shared screen 1304 (see FIG. 14). The battery level may bedetermined using the battery level information. The threshold may be anypercentage of the capacity of the battery, such as 20%. Ensuring thatthe first user device 1302 is in the vicinity of the shared screen 1304means that the first user can easily access and view the shared screen1304. In addition, at step 1512, the resource-saving system may generateinstructions to turn off the screen of the first user device 1302 afterthe first application 1310 is to be displayed on the shared screen 1304.This ultimately preserves the battery level of the first user device1302.

In an implementation also illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, at step 1514,the resource-saving system may determine that the second user device1308 is in the vicinity of the shared screen 1304 as well, and, at step1516, in response to generating for display the first application 1310on the shared screen 1304, generates for display the second application1312 on the second user device 1308. In this case, the shared screen1304 no longer displays the second application 1312. Therefore, thesecond application 1312 is pushed away from the shared screen 1304 tothe second user unit 1308 by the first application 1310. Theresource-saving system may also receive, at step 1508, battery levelinformation of the second user device and, upon determining that abattery level of the second user device 1308 is above a threshold,generate at step 1516 for display the second application 1312 on thesecond user device 1308. This ensures that the second user device 1308has enough battery to display the second application 1312.

In another implementation, at step 1516, in response to determining thata battery level of the first user device is below a threshold, theresource-saving system may generate for display the second applicationon the shared screen such that both the first and the secondapplications are displayed on the shared screen. For instance, theshared screen may be split in half.

In an embodiment, there may be several shared screens that canpotentially be used to display the first application, among which thereare screens that are battery-powered and screen that are electricallyplugged in. The choice of a shared screen may be based on the type ofthe first application of the first user device. For instance, a firstapplication that is battery-consuming, such as a media asset (e.g.,movie), may be displayed on a shared screen that is plugged in while afirst application that is not battery-consuming, such as a messagingservice, may be displayed on a shared screen that is battery-powered.

FIG. 16 is an illustrative flowchart of a process 1600 for selecting ashared screen. At step 1602, the resource-saving system may retrieve alist of available shared screens that are in the vicinity of the firstuser device. At step 1604, the resource-saving system may determine atype of the first application and, at step 1606, based on the determinedtype, the resource-saving system may select a shared screen among thelist. This selected shared screen then displays the first application instep 1510. In a similar manner, at step 1608, the resource-saving systemmay determine a type of the second application and, at step 1610, basedon the determined type, the resource-saving system may either split theshared screen and display both the first and second applications (e.g.,non-private use, high-power consuming application) or may generate forthe display the second application on the second user device (e.g.,private use, low resource-consuming application).

The computing configuration may be similar to that of FIG. 3, with thefirst user, the second device and the shared screen being similar to theuser device 302 and the communication network device 1306 being part ofthe communication network 320. The computing configuration may alsoinclude a home device, such as a set top box, connected to the firstuser device, the second user device and the shared screen via thecommunication network 320 (in particular the communication networkdevice 1306). The network device 1306 may a LAN router, such as a WLANrouter, or a WAN router. Applications may be stored in a user devicestorage and in a server storage. The resource-saving system may includecontrol circuitry of the first device, the second device, thecommunication network device, the home device and/or the server device.In one embodiment, the resource-saving system may be distributed overthe user devices and/or the home device. In one embodiment, theresource-saving system may be included in the first user device and sendinstructions to the shared screen and the second user device.

The methods and/or any instructions for operating any of the embodimentsdiscussed herein may be encoded on computer-readable media.Computer-readable media includes any media capable of storing data. Thecomputer-readable media may be transitory, including, but not limitedto, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals, or may benon-transitory, including, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatilecomputer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk, floppy disk, USBdrive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processor caches, RandomAccess Memory (“RAM”), etc.

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims which follow. Furthermore, itshould be noted that the features and limitations described in any oneembodiment may be applied to any other embodiment herein, and flowchartsor examples relating to one embodiment may be combined with any otherembodiment in a suitable manner, done in different orders, or done inparallel. In addition, the systems and methods described herein may beperformed in real time. It should also be noted, the systems and/ormethods described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with,other systems and/or methods.

1. A method for decreasing consumption of resources related to a userdevice outputting a media asset on an output device, the methodcomprising operating a resource-saving mode comprising: retrieving aninput that a media asset is to be output or is being output by the userdevice on the output device; determining that a first portion of themedia asset has a first attribute; determining that a second portion ofthe media asset has a second attribute; generating for output with afirst set of output parameters, on the output device, the first portionof the media asset; and generating for output with a second set ofoutput parameters, on the output device, the second portion of the mediaasset; wherein the second set of output parameters is different from thefirst set of output parameters.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thesets of output parameters include at least one of: resolution of themedia asset, bitrate of the media asset, frame rate of the media assetand a display size of the media asset on the output device.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: generating for output the first portion ofthe media asset with the first set of output parameters comprisesreceiving a media stream with a first quality, wherein a media streamwith the first quality is a media stream containing data to output themedia asset with the first set of output parameters; and generating foroutput the second portion of the media asset with the second set ofoutput parameters comprises: receiving a media stream with the firstquality; and processing the media stream with the first quality togenerate for output the second portion with the second set of outputparameters.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: generating for output thefirst portion of the media asset with the first set of output parameterscomprises receiving a media stream with a first quality, wherein a mediastream with the first quality is a media stream containing data tooutput the media asset with the first set of output parameters; andgenerating for output the second portion of the media asset with thesecond set of output parameters comprises receiving a media stream witha second quality, wherein a media stream with the second quality is amedia stream containing data to output the media asset with the secondset of output parameters and not enough data to output the media assetwith the first set of output parameters.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein: generating for output the first portion of the media asset withthe first set of output parameters comprises sending to the user devicea media stream with a first quality, wherein the media stream with thefirst quality is a media stream containing data to output the mediaasset with the first set of output parameters; and generating for outputthe second portion of the media asset with the second set of outputparameters comprises sending to the user device a media stream with asecond quality, wherein the media stream with the second quality is amedia stream containing data to output the media asset with the secondset of output parameters and not enough data to output the media assetwith the first set of output parameters.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein: the second set of output parameters includes a lower displaysize than that of the first set of output parameters; and generating foroutput on the user device comprises generating the media asset fordisplay on an output device of the user device or an output deviceconnected to the user device; and when the first portion of the mediaasset is displayed it has a first display size, on the screen of theuser device, and when the second portion of the media asset is displayedit has a second display size that is smaller than the first displaysize.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein generating for output the secondportion of the media asset further comprises turning off any pixels ofthe output device that are not solicited to display the second portion.8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining a battery levelinformation about a level of a battery of the user device; wherein theresource-saving mode is operated in response to determining that thebattery level information is below a threshold battery level ordetermining that the predicted battery level will be below the thresholdbattery level upon completion of consumption of the media asset.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first portion and the second portion ofthe media asset are determined based at least in part on a user'sprofile, and/or on using metadata of the media asset.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first portion and the second portion of the mediaasset are determined based at least in part on: the length of a scene ofthe media asset, the length of a shots in the content, presence ofdialogues, presence of a soundtrack, identification of a category of thescene.
 11. A computing device for decreasing consumption of resourcesrelated to a user device outputting a media asset on an output device,the computing device comprising control circuitry configured to, whenoperating a resource-saving mode: retrieve an input that a media assetis to be output or is being output by the user device on the outputdevice; determine that a first portion of the media asset has a firstattribute; determine that a second portion of the media asset has asecond attribute; generate for output with a first set of outputparameters, on the output device, the first portion of the media asset;generate for output with a second set of output parameters, on theoutput device, the second portion of the media asset; and wherein thesecond set of output parameters is different from the first set ofoutput parameters.
 12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein thesets of output parameters include at least one of: resolution of themedia asset, bitrate of the media asset, frame rate of the media assetand a display size of the media asset on the output device.
 13. Thecomputing device of claim 11, wherein: generating for output the firstportion of the media asset with the first set of output parameterscomprises receiving a media stream with a first quality, wherein a mediastream with the first quality is a media stream containing data tooutput the media asset with the first set of output parameters; andgenerating for output the second portion of the media asset with thesecond set of output parameters comprises: receiving a media stream withthe first quality; and processing the media stream with the firstquality to generate for output the second portion with the second set ofoutput parameters.
 14. The computing device of claim 11, wherein:generating for output the first portion of the media asset with thefirst set of output parameters comprises receiving a media stream with afirst quality, wherein a media stream with the first quality is a mediastream containing data to output the media asset with the first set ofoutput parameters; and generating for output the second portion of themedia asset with the second set of output parameters comprises receivinga media stream with a second quality, wherein a media stream with thesecond quality is a media stream containing data to output the mediaasset with the second set of output parameters and not enough data tooutput the media asset with the first set of output parameters.
 15. Thecomputing device of claim 11, wherein: generating for output the firstportion of the media asset with the first set of output parameterscomprises sending to the user device a media stream with a firstquality, wherein the media stream with the first quality is a mediastream containing data to output the media asset with the first set ofoutput parameters; and generating for output the second portion of themedia asset with the second set of output parameters comprises sendingto the user device a media stream with a second quality, wherein themedia stream with the second quality is a media stream containing datato output the media asset with the second set of output parameters andnot enough data to output the media asset with the first set of outputparameters.
 16. The computing device of claim 11, wherein: the secondset of output parameters includes a lower display size than that of thefirst set of output parameters; and generating for output on the userdevice comprises generating the media asset for display on an outputdevice of the user device or an output device connected to the userdevice; and when the first portion of the media asset is displayed ithas a first display size, on the screen of the user device, and when thesecond portion of the media asset is displayed it has a second displaysize that is smaller than the first display size.
 17. The computingdevice of claim 16, wherein generating for output the second portion ofthe media asset further comprises turning off any pixels of the outputdevice that are not solicited to display the second portion.
 18. Thecomputing device of claim 11, wherein control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: obtain a battery level information about a level of abattery of the user device; wherein the resource-saving mode is operatedin response to determining that the battery level information is below athreshold battery level or determining that the predicted battery levelwill be below the threshold battery level upon completion of consumptionof the media asset.
 19. The computing device of claim 11, wherein thefirst portion and the second portion of the media asset are determinedbased at least in part on a user's profile, and/or on using metadata ofthe media asset.
 20. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the firstportion and the second portion of the media asset are determined basedat least in part on: the length of a scene of the media asset, thelength of a shots in the content, presence of dialogues, presence of asoundtrack, identification of a category of the scene. 21.-66.(canceled)